About ToxicTrailers.com

ToxicTrailers.com was launched after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when the government spent more than $2 billion on FEMA trailers with high levels of formaldehyde that sickened thousands of people. The FEMA trailer tragedy exposed what is a widespread problem in RVs, mobile homes, modular buildings and even conventional buildings that use pressed wood products. Unfortunately, as we approach the tenth anniversary of Katrina, formaldehyde regulations are not being enforced in the U.S., and people's health is at risk. If you are having burning eyes, congestion, sore throat, coughing, breathing difficulties, frequent sinus infections or rashes, and difficulties concentrating, you may have a formaldehyde problem. For questions or to share your story, write 4becky@cox.net.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Family poisoned by double wide in 2000

EDITOR's NOTE: This experience years before Katrina shows the manufactured industry knew if was poisoning families and did nothing effective to change the way they manufacture trailers to solve the problem. Also note that we saw the same "blue babies" in families housed in FEMA trailers after Katrina.

I wanted to share our story with those out there that could also have or may be having this same experience. I am so glad to know that now there is a website devoted to formaldehyde exposure. I am telling our story because when we went thru this, we never knew nor were we ever informed of the risks of exposure to formaldehyde and how deadly this is to your health. In 2000 we purchased a new double wide home from a dealer in our local town. We noticed upon entering the home our eyes burned and our throats became sore. We called our dealer and were told by our local dealer to keep the windows open and to let some of the "odor" out of the home. We left the windows open and let it air out as much as we could for over a week, and then moved our family in including a two-month-old baby boy, and a three-year- old daughter. Within three days of moving into our home we noticed that our two month old started turning blue and our three year old was coughing continuously. We rushed our little boy and daughter to Children's Hospital. Upon admission to the hospital the ER physician ask us if anything had changed, and we immediately explained that we had moved into a new double wide. He told us then about the infamous formaldehyde exposures and how toxic it can be in manufactured homes. We were shocked. He ordered us to move out of the home until something was done. Our son was hospitalized for formaldehyde poisoning. We contacted our mobile home dealer and explained what had happened and contacted out attorney. Our home was tested and according to the Federal Regulations for formaldehyde exposure was over the legal limit. Our attorney then began the process of contacting our dealer. We live in Tennessee, and immediately someone was sent from Texas to come in and "neutralize" the formaldehyde. We knew upon their arrival something was wrong when they began putting on the "white suits" and oxygen masks with chemicals to neutralize the home. We asked, ‘Why are you having to wear the white suits?’ We were told that the chemicals they use to "neutralize" the formaldehyde were toxic as well. The neutralization process took over six weeks to cure and we were "homeless" for six weeks, but we thought it worked. We did notice that the odor was better and so we opted to move back in, not knowing the risks involved with continued exposure. We were told the air sampled within the limit.We moved out of the home in 2005 because our children both developed asthma and continuous nosebleeds and upper respiratory infections. Our local physician advised us to move out of the home because he knew it must be from the formaldehyde exposure. But without the resources to pursue legal action, we never got to prove that it was from the exposure. In opting to move out, we had to sell the land that had been in my husband’s family for over 100 years.

Warning: RVS and mobile homes may be hazardous to your health!!

Imagine that you have just lost your home in a natural disaster, and are now waiting to get a FEMA trailer for temporary housing. The fact is, you and your family might be better off in a tent or living with friends and relatives, even if it is crowded.

After Hurricane Katrina, FEMA purchased about 102,000 travel trailers at a cost of $2.6 billion to house the victims of the nation’s largest natural disaster. It turns out that the vast majority of these trailers have excessive levels of formaldehyde. See the results of testing done by the CDC that were announced Feb. 29, 2008 at the website http://cdc.gov/nceh/ehhe/trailerstudy/ or just Google CDC formaldehyde FEMA study. This website also has links to information for residents and health care practitioners.

From the very beginning people who received FEMA trailers after Katrina reported experiencing problems such as irritated eyes, breathing problems, bloody noses, headaches, nausea, frequent respiratory infections and skin rashes. We know one family that moved from the FEMA trailer into a storage shed on their property because their daughter threw up every time she spent any time in the trailer. Another man sleeping in his driveway next to his trailer said, “My FEMA trailer is killing me!” One couple experienced such heavy chest congestion combined with nose bleeds that they abandoned their FEMA trailer to sleep in their truck.

The CDC testing confirmed three earlier rounds of testing done by Sierra Club in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama in 2006 and 2007 with test kits from Advanced Chemical Sensors. Out of 69 tests, 61 were over 0.1 ppm which represents 88 percent of the trailers tested. The tests used 0.1 ppm as the concentration above which health impacts are expected. However, much lower levels are recommended for long-term exposure. The Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR) Minimal Risk Levels are 0.04 ppm for 1-14 days, 0.03 for 14-364 days and 0.008 ppm for 365 or more days exposure. The lowest of the 69 Sierra Club tests was 0.04. The highest test was 0.39.

As you will see by reading the blogs on this page, the formaldehyde problem is not confined to just RVs and mobile homes purchased by FEMA. Manufacturers state that they didn't do anything differently for RVs and mobile homes sold to FEMA than those sold to the general public. People across the country are reporting formaldehyde problems in not just campers and manufactured housing, but regular homes, offices, churches and schools.

For an in-depth look at this issue including how FEMA and the ATSDR tried to coverup the problem rather than respond to a major public health disaster, see the hearing transcript from the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform at http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1413.